A new batch of votes from Marion County has dramatically narrowed Superintendent of Public Instruction Susan Castillo's victory margin in her reelection race.

Ron MaurerCastillo is now just 127 votes over the majority of 50 percent plus one that she needs to avoid a runoff against challenger Ron Maurer, a Republican state representative from Grants Pass, in the non-partisan contest.

Before Marion County's final votes for the May 18 election were submitted to the state, Castillo was 271 votes above the threshold for a recount. She continues to have a clear margin over Maurer of just over 2,500 votes. But there also some 2,264 write-in votes at this point.

Four other counties - Linn, Morrow, Sherman and Hood River - have not yet submitted final vote totals as I write this. But Don Hamilton, a spokesman for the secretary of state's office, said those counties have been updating their results regularly and their final numbers are not expected to change the totals much.

This now presents an interesting quandary for Maurer. Under state law, there is an automatic recount, paid for by the state, if the difference between the two leading candidates is less than one-fifth of one percent.

But there is no automatic recount if the margin between victory and a runoff is within that one-fifth of one percent.

Maurer could pay for a recount on his own. When the state last did a recount of a statewide race - involving 2008's Measure 53 - it cost about $113,000.

Maurer said Tuesday that he doesn't have that kind of money, and he doesn't know if donors will pony up for the possibility of getting him into a runoff.

Maurer said he has asked Secretary of State Kate Brown to find out if the state would reimburse him if he paid for a recount and it led to a runoff. Would that count as reversing the result of an election, which leads to a reimbursement?

Secondly, Maurer said is concerned that the ballot received by Republicans in Lane County had a local measure on one side of the ballot in which the "no" oval lined up with the oval for Castillo's name on the other side. Is it possible that voters might have pressed hard enough on that "no" oval to leave a dimple or mark on the other side that counted as a vote for Castillo?

Hamilton said his office hasn't had any reports of a problem involving Lane County ballots, besides what Maurer told him.

Maurer said that based on the answers he gets, he'll decide in the next few days whether to proceed with a recount. One possibility: start just in Lane County and see if that produces anything.

"I don't want to throw in the towel without exploring these various questions," said Maurer, who added that he plans to make a decision in the next few days. The state has until June 17 to officially certify the results.

Maurer also said that, whatever the final outcome of the election, the Legislature ought to look at whether state law should be changed to call for automatic recounts when a candidate just barely gets enough votes to avoid a runoff.

You could get to that one vote (above 50 percent) and not trigger the automatic recount, said Maurer, adding that, "there are legitimate questions that at least need to be discussed."